


Don't Be Afraid To Spread Your Wings And Fly

by PhantomJeans



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Dadza, Family Dynamic, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Ranboo/OC, Self-Indulgent, Technoblade/oc, TommyInnit/OC, Wilbur Soot/OC, Wings, also i deadass cant spell, i dont wanna tag things and then dis apoint people, idk if there are gonna be any relationships yet, no beta we die like men, plenty of friends though, the timelines probs gonna be fucked you're gonna have to give me a minute, we shall see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:53:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28084986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomJeans/pseuds/PhantomJeans
Summary: The no flying rule was just a trivial group of words that held no weight until Phil became a part of the realm....And after him came others, and more ofter that.(Might Change the title)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 62





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Helloo!! This is my first ever fic like ever! constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! This fic is 100% self indulgent, i just couldn't get the wings idea out of my head haha. Also this has been inspired by the concepts of a few other works, specifically "I'm not angry at you, well, sometimes I am" by sircantus, and "teach me to fly, teach me to live" by always_an_anxious_mess. These authors are absolutely amazing and you should definitely go check out their stuff! Now This first Chapter or so is gonna be a bit slow because I'm trying to lay down the ground work for this, so please be patient, because i pooped this out like a day because i needed to just get it out there you know??? anyway! thank you so much for reading and i hope you enjoy the first chapter!! <3

The no flying rule was just a trivial group of words that held no weight until Phil became a part of the realm. 

Before him, no one of any (known) Avian hybrid origin existed in the realm of the Dream SMP, and Dream tried to keep it that way for a reason. Those who could fly were “harder to manage,” which was the excuse he had given when hashing out the terms of Phil’s residency in the SMP (if you can even call what they did hashing out terms… Phil was desperate to be granted a pass in order to help his sons who desperately needed him). So, Phil complied with the rule, and all was well. But Dream couldn’t sleep knowing that Phil was possibly out there flying when he wasn’t looking (which would have been next to impossible because he was always looking). So, Dream being the sadistic bastard he is, demanded Philza to let him clip his flight feathers as an extra “security” measure, or be forced to watch his sons be executed and banished back from which he came. With no other choice, Phil swallowed his pride and agreed.

Looking back at it now, the 48 hours leading up to Crumbs arrival in the Dream SMP realm were a bit of a blur. She remembers waking up early like she always does to tend to her animals and the few crops that she grew in order to provide for them and herself. She dreaded it, the rise of the sun, but it was habit to wake up this early now, having grown up on the farm her whole life. It was something she inherited when her parents died 5 years ago. The couple was in their late 50’s when they adopted her at the age of 3. Both of their sons had died in one of the many wars that scattered the realms and left a hole in their lives that they sought desperately to fix. Crumbs had apparently been the solution because they loved her as if she were their own flesh and blood. They taught her how to work the farm as soon as she was strong enough to till the ground and while she didn’t have the green thumb needed to nurture the plants, Crumbs ended having an unexplainable way with animals of all shapes and sizes. And that was that, she spent 8 wonderful years with two loving parents until they both passed away minutes apart from each other. 

Shaking off the fog of nostalgia and wiping the sleep from her eyes, Crumbz stumbled her way over to her dresser and blindly grabbed a pair of jeans in the darkness of the early morning. Once she found them and dressed with said jeans and a warm shirt to go along with it, she snagged a pair of socks and made her way downstairs to grab a snack before she heads out. After making it to the kitchen and grabbing an apple, Crumbs shuffles out the front door to sit on the porch while she finishes her apple. Once her apple has been cleaned to the core, she tosses it in the compost bin right beside the steps before putting her muck boots ion and heading to the barn. Her day goes as normal, she works from sunrise till almost sunset, only taking breaks for water and lunch. She remembers that she is in the kitchen prepping for dinner when she hears a knock at the door. The knock startles her, causing her to let out a small gasp as she narrowly avoids chopping off one of her toes when the knife she had been holding clatters to the ground. She takes a few seconds to lean against the counter to compose herself when there is another knock at the door. 

“One second!” Crumbs calls out, before quickly reaching down to retrieve the fallen knife and placing it on the counter. 

She rinses her hands in the sink, drying them quickly before turning to walk out of the kitchen and towards the living room. Once there she can see the front door as well as the shadow of whoever’s out there through the lite. Finally reaching the front door, she twists the doorknob and pulls it open. The… man, was not something she was used to seeing. He was tall, towering over her 5’4” form so much that she had to crane her neck to see his “face.” And she hoped there was one of those under the porcelain mask he wore on his face. It held barely any expression, a breeze of a smile. Tuffs of dark, dirty blond hair poked out from underneath a green hooded jacket. The jacket was zipped up, and there were leather pieces of armor situated on his chest and shoulders. Light, versatile, ready for combat or to flee if needed, an adventurer. Looking back up to his face sure enough, Crumbs could see the handle of a sword poke out from behind his back.

“A-ah Good evening… It is getting kind if late is it not? Is there something you need help with?” Crumbs asks, years of country hospitality and military training paranoia butting heads, wanting to invite him in, but not wanting to let the obviously stronger individual onto her home turf. The mask stares down at her wordlessly for and uncomfortable number of seconds, and Crumbs is ready to shut the door in his face and run for her bow when a mellow voice floats from behind the mask,

“Are you Crumbs? GhostCrumbs, if we’re using full titles.”

The voice rubs her the wrong way but draws her in at the same time, draws her in and sets her on edge. Its everything she wants to hear, but it makes her want to burst her eardrums and go deaf all at the same time. She feels nauseous. Blinking hard she takes a small step back from the man, keeping a firm grip on the door just in case she needs to slam it on him in order to by herself some time to run for a weapon. 

“If I am, who’s asking?” Crumbs replies leveling her gaze with the holes where the man’s eye were bound to be. He stares for a couple seconds longer, and then in the blink of an eye all the tension that had accumulated in the past few minutes completely disappeared as the mas chuckles. 

“Excuse me, where are my manners,” he sticks out his hand, covered in some kind of fingerless glove, perfect for using tools on a more than regular basis, “my name is Dream, and I’ve come to personally present a decree of citizenship to the Dream SMP Realm.” 

There’s an audible smirk to his words as he finishes. Crumbs eyes are blown wide in shock. Whatever thoughts that had been running through her head before came to a screeching halt. Her? Living in the Dream realm? 

“W-why don’t you come inside for a bit. I think we have a lot to discuss.” She whisperers in a daze, stepping aside to let the towering man into her living room. Wordlessly, he steps inside, walking directly over to the well-loved couch and plopping himself down right in the center. 

She offers him something to drink and when he waves her off, settles into the chair opposite to the couch he’s perched on. The conversation feels like it lasts a lifetime, but in reality, couldn’t have been longer than 30 minutes. He laid everything out in front of her, he had scouts deployed all over the realms looking for those who held the potential to be great and benefit the Dream SMP Realm, and she had caught one of those scouts’ attentions. He had them keep tabs on her and was impressed by her actions and feats (Crumbs blushed when he recounted the incident that occurred in the Hypixel Markets but a few months ago, which had been the deciding factor) and wanted her to come continue to grow in the realm. Crumbs, was speechless, never would she have thought that a nobody like her would have a chance like this handed to her. Dream assured her everything would be taken care of, and once she had an established home, she could retrieve the rest of her nonessential items and bring them to her new home, he’d even have some of his scouts take care of her animals while she was away. He stuck his hand out and she immediately grabbed it, no hesitation in her answer (although the skin of her back did ripple the entire time they talked, almost as if unnerved… who knows). Dream lets out an excited laugh, smile evident in his voice,

“Welcome to the Realm, Crumbs.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More world-building and character development!
> 
> We'll be in the SMP next chapter! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, a lot more people saw this than I thought... I hope yall are enjoying it! Feel free to leave constructive criticism in the comments!
> 
> BTW I want to go ahead and apologize for how OOC some of the characters might be. I mainly watch the SMP from 2-3 perspectives so I'm piecing the rest together through the wiki, youtube, and Tumblr... anyway, if yall have any suggestions for that feel free to leave them in the comments! Enjoy!

Crumbs began packing the essentials she would need and her important personal belongings in an ender chest Dream let her barrow. 

“There are plenty lying around that you can use so no worries about that,” he casually says, “I’ll be back a bit after noon tomorrow to show you the way, so be ready.” He finished with a wave, waking out the front door and into the night. 

This (hopefully) unintentional show of wealth was a bit intimidating. While not the most expensive thing, the materials for ender chests were not the easiest to come by. The world was full of things that Crumbs had yet to experience, partially due to her parents' fear of losing another child, and partially because of how much time and materials it took to either make or venture out and find whatever you were looking for. And considering how old her parents were and the kind of life they lead… you get the point. So, Crumbs guessed she could consider herself sheltered. But by no means was she completely helpless, her father made sure of that. And why would Dream have even sought her out if she was? 

Her father was a General in one of the many wars that plagued the surface at one point or another. That’s how he met her mom actually. She was working as a field medic and patched him up after he was injured leading a charge on a stronghold. It was a classic case of love at first sight, the battle was won and afterwards they were both relieved of duty and settled down to have a family. They had two sons and were happy for a very long time until the sons were dragged into the war of the neighboring realm and killed in battle. The parents were devastated, especially the father, who felt as if he could have prepared his boys better. They pack all of their things and moved as far away from any major realms as they could and started their new lives. They became farmers and traded with the people of the small towns around them. They met a younger Crumbs in one of the towns and the rest is history. Her father vowed to not make the same mistake twice and taught her how to defend herself as soon as she was able to walk. He taught her to fight with a sword as well as with her hands, but there was one thing that came to her as if it had been programmed into her very being. She was a whizz with a bow since the very first time she drew back the string. Her accuracy was incredible all around, not even just with a bow. Crumbs quickly became the best shot out of all the neighboring towns and probably would have been the best in one of the realms if her parents would have taken her to compete. While her father taught her to protect herself, her mother taught her to care for herself and for others. She taught her what she needed to know to live, to be kind, all she needed to know to be her own person. 

Crumbs rubbed her eyes, willing the tears that had started to build up back down, there was no time for that, she had to pack, and pack she did. 

While Crumbs packed, she thought back two months to the last time she traveled to the Hypixel Markets. Hypixel Markets is one of the public markets where people can go and either sell or trade their goods. There are tons of public markets like Hypixel, but sometimes, buyers from private markets, like Desteria, will come looking to make new connections for cheaper goods. Those are the connections you need to make. A couple of those connections and someone like Crumbs is set for life. The Hypixel Markets are a whole four days travel by horse from where Crumbs lives, so when she gets to go, she has to make the most of it. During her last trip, she was approached by a vendor from Desteria who was interested in her breed of cows. Now you can tell who the real deal vendors are by how many bodyguards they have with them, and this guy was decently covered. There was at least three on him at all times, and another covering the entrance to the area Crumbs cows were occupying. The vendor liked what he saw of the cows and gives her a price to buy them in pairs. 

Crumbs blinks, and then laughs in the vendor's face. He must be joking, because Crumbs animals are of the highest quality, and are worth more than the pitiful number he just gave her. The vendor lets out an aggravated growl.

“What the hell are you laughing at girl?” 

Crumbs takes a few more seconds to pull herself together before answering him,

“I apologize, that was really rude of me,” she sighs, wiping tears from her eyes, “it’s just that joke you told just then was really good…” Crumbs continues to giggle nervously while looking at the vendor in the face. He’s not smiling. Oh gosh, he was being serious.

“Sir there is no way I could ever sell two of my babies for such a low price. Heck, one of them goes for more than twice that much most of the time,” Crumbs tries to reason with him.

The vendor continues to glare at Crumbs, causing her entire body to tense up, ready to act in case he decides to be irrational. The last thing Crumbs wants is violence, but she will not lay down and be bullied. These animals are her lifeblood, they’re all she has at the end of the day. The man lets out a dissatisfied sigh, raising his hand and motioning to the guard to his right, who begins to raise his crossbow.

“Well then I guess I’ll just have to kill-“

Before he can even finish his thought, there’s an arrow lodged in the guards’ shoulder and he’s on the ground. All eyes shoot back to Crumbs. In the blink of the eye, she had grabbed her bow that had been leaning against the fence keeping her cows in one place, knocked an arrow, fired it, and knocked two more. Gone was the little girl who looked like she could have been barely older than 12, in her place stood a girl who was willing to do what was necessary in order to protect what was hers. 

“It's not lethal, walk away now, get him to a healer, and he’ll be able to use it like normal in a few months,” the girl says. No emotion crosses her eyes, Crumbs knows that if she lets that happen, she’ll be made. She’s never killed someone before, and she’d rather not start today. 

The vendor glances at the downed guard, before shouting to the others to grab him. He looks at Crumbs once more, whose aim had still not wavered. 

“I’ll make sure you never sell here again,” he says as he begins backing up.

“I don’t wanna sell in the same place as scum, anyway, now leave before I change my mind.” Crumbs' bluffs, shifting her stance just slightly for effect. 

It does the trick because the vendor turns tail and disappears in the waves of people that had been yards away the entire time. Crumbs lets out a sigh of relief and un-notches her arrows. Of course, something like this would have happened to her. She should have known the guy was every bit of a scumbag as he looked. A drawn-out grunt from behind her breaks Crumbs' train of thought, and she turns around to find the concerned faces of the cows previously in question. She softly smiles at them, slipping the bow back over her head so she can rub their snouts.

“I’m alright guys, I promise,” whispers Crumbs. 

The slam of the ender chests lids shakes her from the memory. To think, that interaction is what earned her a spot on in the SMP realm. Crumbs shakes her head and glances at the clock on the wall. Her mouth falls open when she sees how late it’s gotten. Deciding that she can pack the rest in the morning, Crumbs locked her front door before heading upstairs to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Once she makes it to the bathroom, she decides to really take a look at herself. She’s never been one to really worry about appearances because she’s never lived around a whole bunch of people, but that’s going to change really soon. Her thick, golden blonde hair is pulled up into a high ponytail, in order to keep it out of her face while she works, but when it’s down it reaches to about the middle of her back. She has a round face, a small nose, and almond-shaped eyes that hold an almost murky green color. Her skin is lightly tanned from working outside for so many years, freckles splattered atop her shoulders and across the bridge of her nose and cheeks. Her cheeks still hold a bit of baby fat, but if it’s still there now she’s sure that’s it’s gonna be there forever at this point. Her torso has a full hourglass shape and sits on top of powerful legs. She's strong, having developed working muscles from the years of working the farm with her parents and then these past few years by herself. Overall, she thought that she was average, not drop-dead gorgeous, but definitely not ugly by any means. The only thing she hated was that she was so freaking short! A whopping 5’4”. What an astronomical height. 

Rolling her eyes at her inner monologue she proceeded with her nightly routine, showering, brushing her teeth, washing her face, all the good stuff. When she was done, she got dressed, turned off the lights, and laid in bed. She was excited and nervous for tomorrow, staring at the ceiling for a few minutes before forcing herself to close her eyes. But no matter how excited Crumbs was for what was to come, there was something deep down inside of her, screaming, that something about this whole thing definitely wasn’t right.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crumbs arrives in the realm, and her situation ends up being... less than ideal...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally in the SMP!! 
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy :)

I should have known better than to just follow Dream and not ask any questions, because sure enough, as soon as we entered the realm through the Nether portal, I blinked, and that bastard was gone. All that was left in his place was a glowing book with the word “Rules” pressed into the cover. I stared at the glowing book for a few seconds longer before tucking it away in my pack with a huff. I close my eyes and breath for a minute or so to try and ground myself. 

‘It’s fine, you’ve dealt with worse with less’ I think.

When I open my eyes, I use the small hill that the portal is situated on to take in the realm I’ll be calling home from now on. It’s beautiful, the buildings vary in all shapes and sizes and there are a number of towers that scrape the sky even above the clouds. I look to my right and see a long, wooden path that seems to lead to a castle looking structure in the distance. To my left, there is a large white building that looks to be about the same size as the castle structure. Finally, I look at the cluster of structures in the distance directly in front of me. The buildings seem to include a variety of colors that are hard to separate at this distance, but from the docks directly to the left of the cluster, it is safe to assume that it’s a town. Considering the size of the previous two structures, I’m more than likely not important enough to get in, which left the town as my safest option. With my mind made up, I take my first steps towards my new future.

About 20 minutes later I was probably over halfway there, and I had somehow managed to gather some… company. A handful of animals had decided that they were going to join me on my journey to the town. Now, this wasn’t really a problem to me, however, it looked as if some of these animals were people’s pets that had walked straight out of their homes to join me on this walk. The most interesting of the bunch being a bat, bee, and a fox. The bat had taken up residency on my left shoulder, while the bee was wandering around on my right. The fox, along with a dog and a cat, followed along beside me as I continued down the path. After a few more minutes of walking, I come to a stop, and slowly reach my hand up to my left shoulder and hold it there for a minute, offering it to the bat. After a few seconds of nothing, it gently prods at my hand with one of its to make sure that it won’t suddenly disappear, before carefully crawling on and hooking itself onto my hand. I blink at the tiny creature in awe. It’s adorable! I gently run a finger over its head for a few moments before I notice the tiny collar resting around its neck. Curious of its name, I grab the tag, careful not to tug on the little guy’s neck.

“Batthew,” I read aloud, “Is that your name?”

The happy squeak confirms my question and brings a smile to my face. I flip the tag to see if his owners' name is engraved on the back, and by the luck of the gods, it is.  
“Ranboo,” I read the name aloud, letting it sit in the air for a moment, “well we’re just gonna have to go ask around town aren't we?” I ask Batthew. 

Loud buzzing in my ear reminds me of the other possible pets, and I look up to find the bee flying in lazy loops around my face. Now that I’m actually getting a good look at the bee, it's abnormally large and has a little collar of its own wrapped around its chuncky body. 

“Oh! I’m so sorry, I’ve been giving all my attention to Batthew, here take a rest while I figure out who you belong to,” I coo at the chunky bug while holding out the palm of my hand for it to land on. As soon as it lands, I read the engraving for its name, and am immediately sent into a fit of giggles.

“Well, it's certainly nice to meet you Beelloon! Hehe, remind me to thank Niki for coming up with such a delightful name,” I giggle out, listening to Beelloon happily buzz around me before landing on my shoulder again. Once I am able to catch my breath again, I look down at the remaining three animals with a smile.

“Alright, would anyone else like to share?” I question. 

The only one to step forward is the fox, and he does so with regal pomp, head held high and snout in the air as to display the leather collar and sparkling tags that were attached. The cute little display of attitude pulls a snort from me as I crouch down in front of him and check his tags.

“Ah yes, Sir Squeeks, how absolutely rude of me to have not recognized you sooner, please find it in your heart to forgive me, or I’m sure I will catch an earful from sir Tubbo.” I finish with a bow, holding it for a few moments, before busting into peels of full-body laughter. Batthew is barely hanging onto my hand when I manage to finally pull myself together. I roughly wipe away the tears that had formed in my eye before giving Squeeks and the other two animals a pat on the head.

“Come on guys, maybe I can get y’all a snack when we get to town and we can ask around about you owners,” I say with a smile, stepping forward towards the town once again. 

It took almost another 20 minutes to make it to the entrance of the town, and in that time, the dog and cat had wandered off to wherever they had come from, I guess. While I was a bit saddened by our friend’s impromptu departure, my attention was quickly captured by the town in front of me. The colors I had seen from the portal, were the various roofs of all the different shops. The Town reminded me a little of the Hypixel Markets, with various stalls and shops selling different kinds of goods. I go to take a step towards one of the many stalls when I feel something nip at the exposed skin of my ankle. Looking down, I quickly remember that I'm not alone and that I promised snacks. I spot a crate situated by a nearby stall and decide to use it to see over the heads of all the people in the town’s plaza. Carefully, I place Batthew back onto my shoulder and scoop Squeeks into my arms before dashing over to the crate, apologizing when I accidentally elbow people while trying to get by. 

“Up you go, I’m right behind you,” I reassured Squeeks as he looks down at me worriedly. I throw my backpack up next to Squeeks before taking a few steps back. 

“Beelloon, you might want to go ahead and fly up there with Squeeks, Batthew, you can stay just hang on tight,” I tell my bodily passengers. After a few moments, I see Beelloon flying up to sit beside Squeeks. Taking a deep breath, I focus on the side of the crate before sprinting towards it. Just before I meet the wall I leap, planting my foot on the vertical surface. Using my forward momentum, I drive myself up by pushing up off the wall, giving myself just enough lift to grab on to the edge of the crate. From there I use my upper body strength to pull myself the rest of the way up. Finally, on the top of the crate, I take a few needed minutes to catch my breath. As I’m doing this, Squeeks is all in my face trying to make sure I’m not going to die.

“I’m fine,” I force out between wheezes, “don’t be such a worrywart” I groan as I nudge his snout out of my face so I can stand up. From the top of the crate, I can see the entire plaza. The Stalls are obviously built cheap, meant to be taken down and put back up, maybe they only operate on certain days? I shrug and continue to look over the plaza before spotting where we need to go. Tucked away in the right corner of the plaza, is a cute little shop with a sign that reads “Nikkis’ Bakery & Caffe.” I shoot a quick glance at the chunky Bee floating around my head before asking the group,

“How do you guys feel about sweets?”

Not expecting an actual answer, I place Batthew on my head so that I can put my backpack on before jumping back down off the crate. I call out to Squeeks and hold out my arms, motioning for him to jump. It takes a bit of convincing, but he eventually jumps right into my arms with a bark. By this time, Beelloon has flown back down from the crate and situated herself back on my shoulder. Taking one last time to tuck everyone a bit closer to my body just to be a bit safer, I turn towards to corner of the Plaza and start making my way through the crowd of people, towards the bakery.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crumbs meets 2/3s of the pets owners.... all is not well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY IF THE PACING SUCKS 
> 
> I started writing and ADHD brain said BRRRRRRRRRR
> 
> Anyways, I'm trying to pump as much content out as I possibly can before I go back to school because updates will become incredibly spaced out once that happens and I really don't wanna lose motivation on this soooooo
> 
> With that ut of the way here's my longest chapter yet!!! hope yall enjoy ;)

The noises of the crowded market became muffled as I stepped into the cozy bakery. The main room consists of a variety of pastel pinks and warm beiges. The small sitting area to my left is barren of any patrons, most likely due to the rope blocking off the area and the sign hanging off it that reads “closed.” Ahead of me and my companions is a counter with a register and a glass display case attached to it. There is no one behind the counter but it smells as if someone has just taken some kind of pastry out of an oven not too long ago. I walk up to the counter and notice that there is a service bell sitting on the counter. 

“Gotta put you down for a sec Squeeks,” I mutter to the fox as I squat down closer to the ground. 

Squeeks huffs as I gently place him back on his feet before circling around my legs as I stand. Reaching out, I gently tap the top of the bell and flinch slightly as the short shriek cuts through the silence. It’s quiet for a few more seconds before I hear footsteps coming from a door behind the counter I hadn’t noticed when we walked in. The door opens and a girl comes out carrying a tray of bread in her hands. She slides the display case open and sets the tray on the bottom shelf before coming to stand in front of me at the register. 

“Hello! Welcome to Nikki’s Bakery and Café, what can I get for you today?” She greets me with an obviously forced smile.

I take a moment to give her a once over. She looks to be about 5’7, with light skin, brown eyes, and blonde hair. She’s wearing an apron over what looks to be like a black crop top, gray coat, and grayish-green shorts, I can’t see what kind of shoes she’s wearing. Her eyes are red-rimmed, and the beginnings of dark circles are starting to show under her eyes, like she hasn’t been sleeping well as if something was keeping her up, worrying her. 

“If you’d like I could suggest something for you,” she presses, smile straining just the slightest bit more. 

I blush a little bit as I realize I’d taken longer than I thought to assess the woman in front of me. 

“I-I’m so sorry I-I-I’m new around here and-“

“Oh, you’re a new merchant?” the woman asks turning her attention back to the bread she sat in the display case, “Well if you’re looking to submit an application to set up a stall then you’ll need to head over to th-“

“I’m not a new merchant, I’m a new citizen of the realm,” I rush out before she can finish what sounded like a long-winded explanation. The woman whips her head up to look at me in surprise and what also looks to be like a little bit of disbelief. 

“I came through the portal about an hour ago with Dream and he pretty much abandoned me as soon as I blinked. I saw this town in the distance and thought it would be my best option. I’m actually looking for someone named Nikki, which is why I came in here, actually.” I finish with a small smile. Standing up, she stares at me for a moment longer before she starts stuttering out an apology,

“O-o-oh my goodness I’m so sorry that was so rude of me to just assume! These past few days have just been a complete mess and I’ve been out late helping Ranboo and Tubbo look for their pets every night and ugh,” she lets out an exasperated groan, “anyways, you said you were looking for Nikki, right? Well, you’re looking at her! What’s your name stranger and what can I do for ya?” Newly named Nikki asks me with a smile that manages to reach her eyes this time.

“My names Crumbs, and I think the question is more what can I do for you,” I smile at Nikki, reaching up and letting Beelloon crawl onto my hand before presenting her to Nikki. 

Nikki gasped, quickly scooping the chunkster out of my hand. 

“Beelloon my sweet baby! Where did you find her!” Nikki asks

I shrug my shoulders, “I was just walking towards this town when these guys,” I gesture to my three companions, “just showed up out of nowhere. There was a dog and a cat too, but they ran off when we reached town. I’ve always just had that kind of effect on animals, they’ve always just liked me for whatever reason.”

Belloon buzzes happily in the air as Nikki leans over the counter to look at Squeeks, who has decided to take a nap curled around my feet, before bringing her eyes up to look at Batthew, who has made himself comfortable on top of my head.

“Their names wouldn’t happen to be Squeeks and Batthew, would they?” Nikki asks with a hopeful look in her eye.

“Yah they are how did you know?” I question, tilting my head.

Nikki lets out a loud laugh as she runs around the counter to pull me into an enthusiastic hug, smooshing her cheek against mine. 

“Oh Yes! Yes! Yes! You are definitely making some great first impressions! Honestly the answer to all my problems!” she exclaims, keeping her hands on my shoulders as she breaks away from the hug. 

I blink hard a few times to gain my baring’s and make sense of what just happened. I reach up for Batthew, who’s barely hanging on after Nikki attacked me out of nowhere, and let him rest in my hand, cradling him against my chest. 

“Wait, so you know who their owners are?” I question, wanting to make sure the pieces are fitting together correctly in my head.  
Nikki looks up from a small, rectangular device that I hadn’t seen her grab from her pockets, 

“Yah! Squeeks belongs to Tubbo and Batthew belongs to Ranboo. Ranboo was looking for Batthew in the woods by his house, so it’ll take him a minute to get here, But Tubbo and Tommy are closer to L’Manburg, so it shouldn’t take too long.” Nikki replies, pocketing the device. “So, while we wait, do you want something to eat? You said you got here over an hour ago so I’m assuming you haven’t had lunch, right?” Nikki asks.

Before I can even answer, my stomach lets out an embarrassingly loud growl, that sets my cheeks on fire. Nikki laughs, grabbing my free hand and tugging me towards the roped off seating area, Squeeks right on my heels.

“Come on, I’ll grab you all something to eat, we can get to know each other better and I can tell you about the realm.” She states, leaving no room to argue.

Nikki and I ended up talking more about my upbringing that we did the realm like she had suggested. But before that, I managed to get a few things out of her, mostly about the town we were currently in. The town's name is L’Manburg, and it has been around for almost as long as the realm itself. It had started out as a joke, but when those who were not a part of L’Manburg demanded they quit their foolishness and give up the land they were using, it sparked the flames of revolution, and the rest is history. Independence was won, treaties were made, a president elected, and the town has flourished in relative harmony with the rest of the realm ever since. As she told me of the initial bloodshed, my back twitched as shivers ran down it. The sacrifice reminded me of my father and his sons, everything they had lost. Nikki was quick to change the subject after that, asking me about my upbringing. I was not too keen on handing out the specifics of my life to people I had just met, so I decided to tell her about growing up on a farm. After listening to me talk about that for a minute, she makes a comment about it sounding like ‘Philza and his boys’ before asking what realms my parents sold our goods too. When I told her that this was actually my first time ever setting foot inside of a realm, she laughs at me, before she realizes I wasn’t joking. Before she’s able to blurt out her next question, the bakery door slams open. 

“Nikki! Where is he?!” 

I whip my head in the direction of the door and am greeted with the sight of a boy with light skin, shaggy blonde hair, blue eyes, wearing a green button-up shirt, jeans, and black shoes. Before Nikki can answer, he sees Squeeks curled of at the bottom of the table we’re sitting at. 

“SQUEEKS!!!” cries the boy, diving at the fox and scooping him up in his arms.

Squeeks, true to his name, lets out a squeak of surprise from suddenly being picked up by the now crying boy. He turns to Nikki, blubbering about the fox, while Nikki just pats his shoulder and tries to calm him down. 

“Tubbo what the fuck man! You just took off without a word, I was barely able to follow!” a voice spoke from beyond the open door. Not a second later, another blonde boy walks in. (what’s with all the blondes here? There seems to be an overpopulation of them) He has light skin and blue eyes, he’s wearing a red-and-white t-shirt, along with tan pants and white shoes. The boy walks right past me to stand next to ‘Tubbo’ and Nikki,

“Woman, where tha’ hell did you find Squeeks, in the middle of Market rush hour might I add when we haven’t been able to find a trace of any of them for days?” he questions.

Nikki shakes her head, “Wasn’t me who found em’, it was Crumbs,” she corrects him, pointing at me from across the small table. 

Noticing that there was someone else for the first time since they entered, the two boys turn and look at me. They continue to stand there, towering over me in silence for what feels like hours, so I decide to stand up and make the first move.

“Hello, my name is Crumbs and I’m the newest citizen of the realm.” I greet them with a smile, extending my hand out towards them. 

The shorter one, who I could now confidently call Tubbo, was the first one to snap out of whatever “trance” the two seemed to be in. Tubbo quickly sets Squeeks on the ground before harshly rubbing at his face with the heels of his hands, wiping away the snot and tears from his previous blubbering. Once his face is clean, he wipes his hands on his pants before reaching one out to grab your hand with a grin.

“It’s nice to meet you Crumbs! Thank you so much for finding Squeeks, we had no clue where he’d run off to. My names Tubbo,” he chirps, letting go of my hand to jerk his thumb at the taller boy, “And this is Tommy!” Tubbo finishes. 

“Don’t tell the woman my name,” Tommy scoffs, “how do we know she’s not with Dream? Huh? She could be a spy trying to get on our good side just relay information back to him.” He chides, taking an “intimidating” step towards me, making him appear that much taller than before. The muscles in my back and shoulders tense, ready to move if he decides to act. 

Nikki gasps and starts to say something about apologizing before she calls his father and I vaguely hear Tubbo mention hearing my story, but the rest just dissolves into white noise. The wound must still be fresh for Tommy to be reacting this harshly to someone he didn’t even know existed up until 30 minutes ago. And it must involve Dream, the way he threw his name around like just saying it would poison him. He doesn’t seem like the type of person to listen to reason, but maybe since there are people here that he knows, they can help de-escalate it a bit. I clench my fist and give him another once over as a precaution. He’s tall, way taller than me, but he lacks obvious muscle to do anything with the lanky limbs he has. I’ve got some rope in my bag, if I can grab that, hit him in the back with the chair, and get him on the ground from there, I should be able to immobilize him til’ the three of us can get him to calm down. I take a deep breath before I begin to speak,

“Look, Tommy, I don’t know what has happened in the past between you and Dream, but I swear to you, the first time I ever met the guy was two days ago when he presented me with my citizenship to the realm. We’ve probably only spoken a total of 10 words to each other. And if it makes you feel any better, I think the guy's a jerk, I mean he abandoned me as soon as we stepped foot in the realm almost 3 hours ago! And I know how it looks with the pets, trust me I do, but I’ve always had that kind of sway with animals. They all just seem to like me. If you want, I’d be glad to sit down with you guys and tell you my whole story” I comforted, trying my best to look as non-threatening as possible, which shouldn’t have been that hard considering the size difference. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Nikki typing into what she had called a “communicator,” glancing back and forth between the device and the situation at hand. Tubbo stood beside her wringing his hands together as something flicks around behind him. Huh, he’s got a tail, so he’s a hybrid, I’ve only ever met one of those in the Hypixel Markets before, I’ll have to ask him about it later. I hear a shout of anger and turn my attention back to Tommy.

“I don’t need to hear your stupid story you dumb bitch!” Is all he screams before he charges at me.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On god Crumbs really does her best, everyone's just full of surprises I guess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really struggled writing this fight scene so please be gentle :( 
> 
> Thank you for your support! Comments are always welcome! 
> 
> Enjoy <3

Tommy wasted no time in charging straight at me, Tubbo and Nikkis voices fading away as I gave the angry boy my full attention. He was more than likely planning on taking me down to the floor with me underneath him, which could not happen. If it did, I was screwed. When Tommy was close enough, I shift to the side, leaving my foot in his path to trip him up so I could have some more time to get to my bag. As he’s going down, he manages to twist himself and lash out his arm, snagging a handful of my hair and dragging me down with him.

I hit the ground hard, my head meeting the floor with an audible thump. My vision is blurred, but I can still make out the shape of Tommys’ head rising in the right corner of my vision, I can feel his hands moving up my body, grabbing various parts of my clothes to keep me pinned on the ground. I swing my left leg up and hook it around his neck before pulling down as hard as I can, smashing his face into the floor. I use the momentum from this switch to scramble towards my bag for anything that could possibly help me at this point. My vision has cleared for the most part, and I’ve just closed my hand around the strap of my bag when a searing grip wraps around my left ankle and yanks me back.

I twist around, keeping a hold of my bag, as I’m dragged across the floor towards a now feral looking Tommy. His eyes have taken on a molten yellow color around the edges, and the pupils have become slight slits. His mouth is in a constant snarl, showing off sharp canines. I look down at the hand gripping my ankle, and his nails are elongated and super sharp, and his hands seem to be… Before I can react, he shifts his hand up, right above my knee, and digs his nails deep into my thigh.

Oh god, it hurts so much. I scream out in pain, flailing around under him before I’m able to get my right leg bent up to my chest. Once I finally do, I lash out as hard as I possibly can making contact with his face, a loud crunch accompanying the contact, pushing him off of me and dragging his nails out of my thigh. I half drag, half crawl over to a table, leaving Tommy to roll around on the floor cussing like the sailors in the markets and use it to stand up. I look over at Tommy to see him still on the ground clutching his face, so I take the chance to quickly examine my leg. 5 deep puncture wounds sit right above my knee, four on the outside and one on the inside. The edges look slightly burnt, but that does nothing to stop the copious amounts of blood from spilling out of the holes. I can hear shuffling from Tommy’s direction and the cursing starts to shift into angry growls, so I have to act fast. I quickly yank my oversized shirt over my head and tear it into somewhat useable strips to tie around my leg, leaving me in a form-fitting tank top. I grit my teeth and try to make as little noise as possible as I tightly wrap my leg.

I finish not a moment too late, because when I look up, Tommy’s coming right back at me, blood running down his face. I shift my body so that the table is between me and Tommy and try to buy myself a little bit more time to catch my breath. He grabs the edge of the table with both hands and instantly it begins to smoak. I flash a look at the parts of his body that have changed in the short amount of time we’ve been fighting, his teeth, hands, eyes, even his ears have changed. Something else is going on, there has to be. Even a recent betrayal wouldn’t cause a reaction this severe. I can’t risk looking away from Tommy to look for Tubbo and Nikki, so as far as I know, I’m alone in this, but what’s new.

“Tommy, there’s something else going on, you have to get ahold of yourself,” I insist, squaring my shoulders and locking eyes with the boy.

Tommy continues to snarl at me, gripping the table tighter causing it to splinter in some places.

“I promise on my life that I mean no ill will to anyone in the realm, and more than likely never will. I’ve been alone for a long time, Tommy, I would never wish that loneliness one anyone, even my worst enemy,” I softly say, in an attempt to not agitate him further.

Tommy’s face seems to soften for just a second. The emotions swirling in his eyes makes me dizzy (or maybe that’s the blood loss). As I speak, there’s fear and sadness that swim to the surface of the now molten pools but are quickly drowned out by overwhelming anger. I’m getting through to him. I open my mouth to say something else, but before the words can leave my mouth Tommy has thrown the table between us to the side. I’m blindsided for half a second, but I recover quickly, grabbing the chair beside me and smashing it against Tommy before he can take more than two steps. It does practically nothing to slow him down, so in a panic, I stupidly take a step towards him, clench my fist, and sock him in the stomach. Tommy doesn’t move but lets out a hacking cough, so for a second, I think I’ve done something. That is until a burning hand is wrapped around my throat and suddenly, I’m looking down at Tommy. I desperately claw at the arm holding me up, kicking my legs around in hopes that I can make contact with his face again. I must get close because soon, there’s a sharp, constant pain in my side as I smash into the glass display case.

The world is spinning too fast; it really needs to stop or I’m gonna throw up soon. I manage to pull myself out of the case to sit on the ground in front of it. My side is on fire and it's almost unbearable to touch it. When I bring my hand up to my face it’s covered in blood. Oh, that’s not good. Further prodding of the area reveals there’s something solid in the middle of where it hurts, I can’t bring myself to look so I’m going to assume it's glass. A noise that sounds like laughing comes from the direction of the Tommy shaped blob and something inside of me snaps. I grit my teeth and will the world to stop spinning. I grab one of the shards of glass on the ground and shakily stand up, facing Tommy. I hold my makeshift weapon out in front of me,

“I’ve had enough of this!” I shout “It’s obvious that you can’t get it through your thick skull that I understand the type of emotion this has all spawned from, even though there’s obviously other forces at play here, but that’s beside the point. You need to get your shit together before one of us does something we can’t take back. I get it, something happened that gave you some trust issues, I understand, truthfully, because mine goes straight to my core! And yes I will admit, I've done some things I'm not proud of because of things that have happened to me in the past, but I’m not gonna have a fucking conniption fit because I think someone’s gonna betray me! If I lived like that, I would have starved to death 13 years ago!” I scream at Tommy, gripping the glass harder. The pain of the glass cutting into my hand grounds me, and take a deep breath to calm myself down a little bit, 

“My point is Tommy, is that if I of all people, can walk into a realm of people that I've never met before, and not flip out, then you're going to be okay. You're going to make it through whatevers happening and when you do, you better be ready to take your licks because after all of this is over, I’m gonna give em’ to you, and then we’re gonna be the best of friends” I state leaving no room for argument.

And it’s a good thing I was done because Tommy had apparently heard enough, letting out a growl and taking off towards me. I lower my stance, my leg and side screaming at me painfully. The muscles in my back tense up, the ones near my shoulder blades tightening to the point of cramping up. Tommy’s about ten steps away when, in a blur of green and black, he is completely blocked from my view. Spread out in front of me, is a wall of glossy, dark gray feathers. No, not a wall. I manage to look side to side and see that the wall is actually a set of huge wings. My mouth drops open in awe.

There’s a body connected to the wings, a blonde man wearing a green striped bucket hat. His mouth is moving, why can’t I hear him?

 _“There’s so much you still don’t know”_ a voice whispers.

Suddenly the world is going full tilt towards the man’s wings and I can feel something soft on my face as I lose consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PHIL PHIL PHIL PHIL PHIL PHIL PHIL 
> 
> voices 👀


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Philza is a wonderful dad to kids that aren't even his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow POV change!!!
> 
> sorry that it took so long to get this out, I got... distracted...
> 
> anyway, I'm not super happy with this chapter but I'm hoping to make up for it with the next one! 
> 
> Enjoy <3

Philza knew he should have gone with Tommy that morning. He had felt it that morning when he had seen his son off, telling him to be home in time for dinner. There had been a buildup of energy circling around Tommy that hadn’t been there when he had checked on his son’s hours earlier, to make sure their usual nightmares were not bothering them, but he just brushed it off as his paternal instincts acting up. So, you can imagine the sheer terror Phil felt when he received a message from Nikki, telling him that his youngest had flown off the handle and was attacking someone for no apparent reason. He dropped the potion bottle he had been prepping, barely hearing it shatter against the floor as he rushed out the door towards the barn where Techno currently was with Carl.

The barn door slammed against the wall, startling the animals inside and Techno alike. The panicked look on his father’s face set him on edge immediately.

“Dad, what’s-“

“It’s Tommy, we need to hurry’” Phil pants out before Techno can finish.

Carl is saddled and ready to go without another word. Techno quickly helps Phil onto the back of Carl, and with a snap of the reigns, they’re speeding off towards L’Manburg.

“What’s happened?” Techno shouts over the wind.

“Nikki wasn’t specific, said Tommy went nuts on someone and started fighting them, won’t listen to anything they say,” Phil says in his ear.

Techno grunts a response, knowing all too well what can happen when Tommy won’t listen to reason. He clicks the reigns again, urging Carl to go faster. L’Manburg is still full of vendors and patrons from various places when Phil and Techno finally arrive. Phil grips his eldest sons shoulders tight,

“They’re in Nikki's bakery,” he says, eyes scanning the square for the quaint little shop. He spots it nestled in the far corner like always and practically throws himself off the horse.

“Tie Carl down and meet me there!” Phill Calls to Techno, already shoving his way through the crowd. He apologizes the best he can as he shoves past people, moving faster when he sees Nikki frantically looking for him outside the shop.

“Nikki!”

Her head jerks over to look right at him and he can see the tears streaming down her face.

“Phil! I- we we tried to stop him, but he kept going on about how Crumbs was just another spy for Dream and that she was going to betray us and stab us in the back, and I- she tried to talk him down Phil, she didn’t want to fight but she had to defend herself. Phil, Crumbs is hurt really bad, she didn’t wanna hurt Tommy, she still keeps talking to him and-“Nikki's babbling is cut off buy the sound of shattering glassing coming from inside the bakery. A new sense of dread fills his gut as he looks towards the door.

“Okay, Nikki did you call anyone else?” Phil asks urgently.

“Uh, yah Ranboo was already on his way.”

“Ok, good, you wait out here on him, Techno’s right behind me,” and before another word can be said he’s pushing open the door.

The sight that greets him makes his heart clench painfully. There’s blood all over the floor, a few drips, a large smear leading away from it, and a larger puddle over there. A table had been thrown across the room, the splinters of what looks like a chair littered the area around the larger puddle of blood. Phil looks at the three children in the room. His son has his back towards him, hunched over with his arms to his sides, ready to pounce whenever necessary. He can see Tubbo out of the corner of his eye, huddled in the corner with a fox and what looks like a bat nestled in his hair. But what really draws Phil’s attention is the third child, the new one, who is currently yelling at his son,

“I get it, something happened that gave you some trust issues, I understand, truthfully, because mine goes straight to my core! And yes, I will admit, I've done some things I'm not proud of because of things that have happened to me in the past, but I’m not gonna have a fucking conniption fit because I think someone’s gonna betray me! If I lived like that, I would have starved to death 5 years ago!” 

The girl screams.

He hears her words and stores them away for later, more concerned about defusing the situation at hand before someone dies. Phil gives the girl a once over and promptly decides the majority of blood on the floor has come from her. There seems to be a bad injury to her leg, but the worst of it is definitely the shard of glass sticking out from her side. Phil’s breath hitches, making the connection between her injury and the sound of shattering glass from a few moments ago. 

“My point is Tommy,” Phil's attention is brought to the girl's face when she addresses his son, honestly caught off guard by the familiar look in her eyes. It's hidden, under determination, sadness, and fear, but it’s definitely there. It’s the same look all his boys have, “is that if I of all people, can walk into a realm of people that I’ve never met before, and not flip out, then you’re going to be okay. You’re going to make it through whatever’s happening and when you do, you better be ready to take your licks because after all of this is over, I’m gonna give em’ to you, and then we’re gonna be the best of friends.” The girl finishes. Phill is taken aback by her confidence for only a second when he realizes Tommy has thrown himself towards the girl. Phil takes off running towards the two and realizes he’s not going to make it in time. So, without even thinking, when he’s close enough to Tommy, he throws his arms out, unfurling his wings from under his coat, blocking the girl from Tommy’s view completely. Techno walks in at that moment and Philza yells at him to grab Tommy and hold him still. Techno rushes forward and wraps his arms around the younger boy, who begins thrashing in his hold.

“Tommy, Tommy hey it’s me! It’s Dad and Techno. Nobody’s going to hurt you, son, I promise,” Phill soothes, desperately trying to calm Tommy down.

It’s was as if a switch was flipped, almost instantly, Tommy was coming to his senses. Phil’s smiling and is about to start asking him what happened when a weight crashes into his wing, and he’s instantly reminded of the victim of Tommy’s episode. Phill stiffens his wing to brace her so she doesn’t fall to the ground, before turning to grab her and place her down on her back so he can assess the damage. There was a large shard of glass deeply embedded in her side, the stain on her tank top growing at a rapid pace. Phil begins unwrapping the makeshift bandages when a commotion causes him to look behind him.

“What the heck happened here?”

“Oh my god Crumbs!”

Ranboos walked inside with Nikki, the latter of the two rushing over to kneel beside the young girl. He looks back at his sons, and to Tubbo who has barely moved from the corner. Philza takes a deep breath before he begins addressing people.

“Tubbo, everything’s going to be okay, I need you to take a breath and come help with Tommy for a bit. Techno go get Carl, I’ve got to bring her to the house and he’s the only horse strong enough to carry three people,” Techno nods, waiting for Tubbo to take his place before rushing out the door to retrieve Carl. Phil looks forward to Nikki,

“Can you tell me her name Nikki?” Phil asks.

“H-her name is Crumbs, she’s a new citizen of the real,” she manages to whimper out on the verge of tears.

Phill nods “Okay, Nikki I’m going to do everything I can to help her, but I need you to help me. I need you to take Tommy and Tubbo into the back and just keep them calm. Feed them, give them water, blankets, I’ll pay you back later for whatever you use just please take care of them, keep them distracted for the time being” Phill pleads, “I’m going to have Techno stay here because he’ll be able to stop Tommy if he freaks out again okay?”

Nikki nods, looking down at the girl, grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze, before shuffling over to the boys and herding them into the kitchen, Squeeks and Batthew following behind. Tommy keeps his eyes on his dad as long as he can. Phill steadies himself with a breath before calling out over his shoulder,

“Ranboo, come help me with her.”

The lanky teen is kneeling on the other side of the girl in seconds, wincing at the up-close sight of her wounds.

“God, Tommy did all this?” he asks as Philza finishes un-wrapping the bandages around her thigh, exposing 5 still bleeding puncture wounds. Phill winces himself,

“I’m afraid so, but we won’t know anything til’ Tommy or Tubbo snap out of it or she wakes up, and that won’t happen if she dies,” he says, digging in his side pouch and producing a rag, “So take this and put pressure right here,” Phill grabs Ranboos hands, placing the rag in it and then putting it in the puncture wounds, applying the needed amount of pressure before letting go.

Ranboo sputters for a second, but Phill stops whatever’s about to start, grabbing the sides of his face making the teen look down at him,

“Ranboo, you heard what I told Nikki, I know you did, Tech’s gotta stay here just in case, and I can’t make the trip back by myself. You’ve got to help me.”

Ranboo stares at him for a moment before slowly nodding his head. Techno chooses that moment to burst through the door. Phil mutters a quick ‘keep applying pressure’ before getting up and walking towards his son.

“I got Carl, where’s Tommy and Tubbo?” Techno asks, sweeping his gaze across the room.

Phill places his hands on his eldest’s shoulders, “Tech, listen to me, they’re in the back with Nikki, but I need you to stay here with Tommy while Randboo and I take Crumbs back to the house,” he can see his son start to protest but he keeps talking, “you’re the only one who can detain Tommy if he loses it again while we’re gone, do you understand?”

Techno searches his eyes for something, anything that should make him push to stay with his father, but finds none, and nods. Phill tiredly smiles,

“Good, good. Alright,” he turns to the teen on the ground behind him, “Ranboo, I need you to pick Crumbs up and carry her out to Carl, I’ll be right behind you to help get her settled,” Ranboo nods, slipping his arms under the girl and carrying her outside. Phil turns back to Techno, “Tech, call Wilbur and let him know what’s going on, you’ll be the first person I call when we’re in the clear,” Phill instructs, pulling him into a hug.

“I love you son,”

“I love you too dad,”

With that, Philza rushes outside, helps Ranboo settle onto Carl with Crumbs before heading back in the direction of his home, urging Carl to go as fast as he can. A life could depend on it.

* * *

_Across the realm, a man collapses in front of a cauldron as the image of the man hugging his son disappears, panting heavily as he holds himself up on shaky arms. A large creature emerges from the darkness behind him, wrapping itself around the man and pressing its face to the man worryingly. The man leans into the creature muttering a soft ‘I’m okay’ when a hum of interest disturbs the relative silence. The hum comes from another man, standing tall on the other side of the cauldron._

“Interesting, it seems like she unknowingly recognized the influence of magic on Tommy” _the man utters thoughtfully._

_The creature growls in his direction, bearing rows of sharp teeth threateningly. The man on the floor places a shacky hand on the creatures’ face to try and calm it down before addressing the one in front of him._

“Yes, it does seem like she has some sort of sensitivity. Now, can you please leave, you’ve cashed in your favor Dream, and after your last visit Bad doesn’t want you here longer than necessary,” _the man says addressing Dream. The now named ‘Bad’ let’s loose another snarl at the green hooded man. Dream scoffs, rolling his eyes behind his masks,_

“Why of course Skeppy, I definitely wouldn’t want to upset Bad,” _Dream mockingly_ _says,_ “So I’ll just be on my merry way, for now at least. It’s not like I’m all out of favors,” _he finishes with a grin so wide; the edges manage to just peek out from the sides of his mask. Bad curls himself tighter around Skeppy, trying to block him from Dreams view. All Dream does is laugh at them, turning to the door and walking out, his laughter echoing behind him._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, Thank you to all those who are reading and leaving support, it means the world to me <3


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dream, some reassurance, Daza being Dadza, and an impromptu lesson on wings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays!
> 
> I hope you've all had wonderful times however you celebrate! 
> 
> I'm sorry this took so long to get out but I'm coming at you with my longest chapter yet! Almost 4k words!!! 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy! Please feel free to leave comments! I love to see what y'all think!
> 
> <3

_Crumbs opens her eyes with a gasp for air, waking as if she had been drowning. She tries to sit up and finds that she is unable to move her body. In her semi-paralyzed state, she looks around frantically trying to determine her exact location. She’s met with a never-ending expanse of starry, otherworldly darkness, and she relaxes, all be it a bit surprised. She knows where she is, she’s dreaming. Crumbs has been here before, has had this dream a many of times, but it had been a long time since she had been here. Soon, Crumbs is able to move again, sitting herself up in the center of the circular bed with a wince, images of her fight with Tommy flash through her mind. If she was this sore even in her dreams, then it was a wonder how she wasn’t dead._

_As Crumbs sits on the bed, she takes a second to observe the familiar surroundings. Far in the distance, is a large floating mass or ‘island’ of some off-white, material. It was too far away to truly discern a specific color; Crumbs knew for sure that after looking at it for so long it wasn’t truly white. But what was really interesting, were the structures sitting atop the floating island. Large structures, branching off in multiple directions, were clustered atop the island, surrounded by tall, thick pillars of material so dark, the only reason Crumbs knew it was there was because they blocked out the stars in the sky. The buildings were made of similar off-white material as the island, creating rectangular boxes stacked in an inverted pyramid-like style, each level outlined in a light purple material and had what looked like windows on each level. But what really blew Crumbs mind, was the way the building defied every law of gravity she knew existed (even though it wasn’t a lot). A larger building acts as a sort of anchor for the cluster of buildings floating in the air around it, connected to it by bridges made of the same material that borders the actual buildings. Some of the buildings were even vertically connected by towers, some of which have bridges that lead to nowhere. Clusters of these buildings are scattered all over the island, and as Crumbs scoots closer to the edge of the bed to get a closer look at the city, a mass suddenly blocks the view from her vision._

_Crumbs flinches back away from the edge and glares up at what had scared her. Her stare instantly changes back to wonder at the sight of the woman before her. In the dim light provided by the stars, Crumbs has never been able to get a good look at the woman before her but there were a few things she knew. For one, she was strong. Crumbs could tell that by the way the silvery bodysuit the woman wore, hugged her body, the same one in fact that Crumbs always wakes up in. It comfortably hugs every curve and crevice, looping around the arches of her feet and covering the palms of her hands. Two, the woman had a massive pair of wings. She was a hybrid, of what specific type Crumbs couldn’t tell, but they were beautiful. The light color of her wings seemed to glow against the dark sky, their powerful flaps creating soft gusts of wind that caused goosebumps to rise along Crumbs exposed back. Crumbs stares at the wings, and a phantom weight settles on her back, it seems heavier than usual, but she shrugs it off as soreness and the fact that it had been so long since she has had this dream. Taking a bit longer to admire the woman’s wings, Crumbs finally brings her gaze to the woman’s face. Or in her case, her lack of one. The woman has no face, in its place, a constantly shifting image that was perfectly fitted to the area of her face. Her hair was similar, constantly shifting, and changing colors._

_The woman shifting forward grabs Crumbs attention, the steady beat of her wings having lulled her into a trance. The woman extends her hand to Crumbs, and Crumbs begins to remember what part of the dream she’s in, it’s time for her to wake up. If she’s being honest with herself, she hates this part so much. With a grimace, Crumbs shuffles forward and gently grasps the women’s hand. It’s unavoidable. As soon as she does, she is scooped up into the arms of the woman, and with a powerful flap, they are shooting straight up into the air. Crumbs buries her face in the woman’s neck, tightening her grip on her in preparation for what comes next. By now they had flown so high into the sky that the island could no longer be seen. The woman extends her wings, stopping their ascent, and flapping them to hover in place. Crumbs counts down the seconds, waiting. When she feels the woman’s grip on her loosen, she begins to panic._

_Crumbs claws at the woman for something to grab on to, and barely manages to grab her forearm._

_“Please!” Crumbs pleads as her hand starts to slip, “I don’t want to fall!”_

_The woman looks down at Crumbs, and the lower half of her face solidifies long enough for her to softly smile at the now crying girl. She reaches down with her other hand to gently wipe the tears from Crumbs eyes, before speaking,_

_“Don’t be afraid,_ ** _paulo avis_** _” She whispers in a distorted but soothing voice._ _It calms Crumbs only a little bit before the panic begins to come back full force as Crumbs hand finally slips, and she is falling through the sky with one last cry to the winged woman._

I shoot up with a cry, immediately regretting that as pain radiates from my side. At least after that dream, I know that wherever I am now, I’m awake. I look down at my torso to find it wrapped in bandages, only a few spots of red. I breathe a sigh of relief, forever thankful that the shard of glass had been removed and patched up while I was unconscious. I grab the sheets that bunched at my waist when I had sat up and move them down to look at my leg, only to find them covered in some kind of sweatpants. They were obviously not mine, having been rolled several times at the waist and tied off in order to fit me. I frown a bit at the memory of Tommy shredding my leggings when I kicked him off of me. Shaking myself from the memory, I take a look around the bare room. The wooden floors are a spruce color, while the walls are made of a darker stain of wood. The sparse furniture in the room matches the stain of the wall. A single window occupied a portion of the far corner beside the dresser that had been tucked away there. Two chairs sat in the room as well, one beside the bed I was in on the right side, and one closer to the door. It was homely, even with minimal furniture and décor. I curl my toes under the sheets to try and rid them of the pins and needles that were developing and was just about to start trying to bend my injured leg when the door to the room opens.

In walks an older man with blonde hair, carrying a tray of food with him. He softly closes the door and looks over at me. The surprise is evident in the way his eyes widen as well as the way he almost drops the tray of food.

  
“You’re awake! Thank goodness,” the man says (exclaims) as he shuffles himself to the chair beside the bed. He sets the tray down on the bedside table before asking any more questions.

“So how are you feeling?” the man asks in a tone that wants to make me tell him all of my worries.

I sit there and examine him for a moment, curious as to why he seemed so familiar, before opening my mouth to try and speak, but all that comes out is a dry wheeze followed by hacking full-body coughs. The man jumps into action, quickly grabbing the glass of water off the tray and putting it in my hands and pushing it towards my mouth, telling me to take slow sips or I’ll just make it worse. While I drink the water between coughs, he is steadily rubbing my back in a circular motion to soothe the tremors racking through my body. After a few minutes of this, we manage to get the coughing under control.

“Better?” the man almost whispers, as if afraid disturbing the silence will send me into another fit. I silently nod my head still observing him. His clothes itched something far back in my mind. A green type of garb covers his body, an oversized black jacket over top of it, and a green and white bucket hat sits atop dirty blonde hair.

_A blur of green and black, dark gray feathers blocking Tommy from my view._

_A blonde man wearing a green striped bucket hat._

Ah, the winged man from the bakery. But where are his wings?

“So how are you feeling?” The man asks again.

I shove the question to the back of my mind before answering him.

“Sore, but alive. Thank you,” I manage to rasp out this time with a smile.

He returns it, his smile full to the brim with kindness. He slowly grabs the glass from my hands, returning it to the tray.

“It’s the least I could do after what Tommy did. My name is Philza but please feel free to call me Phill,” Phil says extending his hand.

My mind flashes back to the dream, the woman, _the fall._ I know I’m being ridiculous, but it always feels so real, the feeling of her hand slipping from mine, the wind rushing past my ears making it impossible to hear even my own screams as I hurtle through the starry darkness. I force myself to reach a shaky hand forward and grab Phills.

“I’m Crumbs.”

He can totally feel me shaking, but says nothing of it, only squeezing my hand for a moment before letting it go.

“S-speaking of Tommy, is he ok? Is he here? Where is here?” I shoot out in rapid succession, attempting to distract myself from reliving the dream again.

“He’s okay, made it out with a broken nose and some bruises, but he’s not here, he’s sleeping, back at the bakery with Techno, Tubbo, and Nikki. Wilbur’s heading that way right now. And here, would be my home,” he finishes, gesturing to the room around him.

“I live here with my boys, but enough about me, are you hungry?” he asks, grabbing a small bowl off the tray and handing it to me, “Ranboo and I made some stew while we were for you to wake up, you need to eat a little bit at least so I can have you drink the rest of this healing potion,” Phill pulls a half-empty bottle of shimmering pink liquid from his pocket. I eye it suspiciously, I’d seen potions being sold in Hypixel before, but I never knew what they were for. My stomach rumbles loudly, causing me to blush as Phil lets out a soft chuckle. We sit in relative silence as I eat, the only sound being my embarrassingly loud slurps as I greedily eat the stew. I take a moment to rest, feeling my stomach start to protest at how fast it was being filled.

“So, from what I managed to get out of Nikki, you’re a new citizen of the Realm? Why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself, it’s rare for us to get new residents?” Phill questions.

There’s no pressure from him for me to answer, but the comforting timbre of his voice pushes me to.

“Sure,” I reply with a shrug of my shoulders, “what do you want to know?”

“Well, let’s start simple. How old are you? You look pretty young,”

“I turned 16 not too long ago, so I’m not that young.”

Phill laughs, “Well you could have fooled me. That means you’re not too much younger than Tommy and Tubbo, they’re both 17.”

I nod, waiting for him to ask another question. It’s painfully silent for a moment before he continues,

“So where are you from? How’d your parents react to you moving away?”

The question makes me freeze. Right to the hard-hitting stuff huh?

“Uh, I’m from way far away, you probably wouldn’t know it,” I reply, avoiding the second question entirely.

“Try me!” Phill says with his seemingly permanent smile, “I’m pretty well-traveled, I’ve practically been all over so I’m sure I’ve at least heard of it,” he pushes.

I clutch the bowl a little tighter, “Well you see, I’m not exactly from a town. I lived on a farm that was miles away from a cluster of small villages. There are five of them: Liris, Naporia, Poltragow, Bellmare, and Dallhurst. The cluster is there because of some kind of treaty, I can’t really remember the exact details, just that they’ve been there way longer than I have.” I finish, bringing the bowl to my lips, gulping down the last bits of stew before setting the bowl back on the side table.

Phill hums in thought, leaning back to relax in the chair as he thinks.

“Bellmare and Dallhurst sound pretty familiar… you said you lived on a farm, right? Were the majority of the villages farming villages?” He asks.

I nod in response.

“Well then maybe I’ve traded with one of them in a realm before. Maybe I’ve even traded with your parents! What realm do they trade in?”

My mind goes blank at his question. How had I managed to get myself in such a vulnerable position? I grip the sheets that have settled in my lap, tears welling up behind my eyes. How was he managing to ask me questions that were ripping open old wounds with such a calming demeanor and happy smile? Why Why Why Why Why…..

_Why did I want to tell him?_

“I- we,” my reluctance to answer has to be tangible, I can see it in the way his smile softens into something else.

“Hey,” he reaches forward and places a gentle hand on my shoulder, “you don’t have to talk about it if it’s too much.”

His kindness is too much for me to handle, and the damn of tears I’d been fighting back breaks, flowing freely down my face as sobs rack through my body. The next probably 10-15 minutes are spent crying into my hands, Phil having wrapped me up in a warm hug as soon as the tears had started and kept telling me to breathe, and that “everything’s going to be okay.”

“I’m sorry,” I whimper.

“It’s okay, honestly. If it upsets you that much then-“

“No,” I quickly cut him off, pulling away from the hug to look him in the eye, “I want to tell you, I need to. It’s just been so long since I’ve had someone to talk to who’s willing to actually listen, I guess it’s all just catching up to me.”

I can see the worry from my words work its way across Phills face through the scrunch of his brows.

“Of course, I’d be more than happy to listen to as much or as little as you want to tell me,” he says, scooping my hand into his to give it a comforting squeeze. I nod at him, taking a few deep breaths to try and calm myself before I start to speak,

“Well, you asked about my parents, they haven’t been around for almost five years now…”

I end up telling Phill just about every part of my 16 years of existence I can remember. I tell him of how I was adopted from the orphanage in Bellmare, how my parents trained me to protect myself, my affinity to animals and theirs to me, how I’ve never really had friends, my close calls with death, how I’ve never stepped foot in a realm until today, my inexperience with life in general, my parent’s deaths, the events that took place afterward, everything leading up to this very moment of me telling him my life story sitting in this room. And he sat there, for hours, listening to me, and not once did he interrupt or complain.

When I was finally done, Phill just sits there in the chair, letting the comfortable silence settle between us. After a few minutes of this, he huffs out a chuckle, and I look at him strangely.

“I’m sorry, I’m not laughing at you, just made a connection with your little speech to Tommy ‘s all,” He looks at me with a sympathetic smile.

I blush a little, looking back down at the bed, almost having forgotten about the words said and promises made back in the bakery.

“Tommy’s my youngest ya know?” Phill says out of nowhere.

I whip my head back up, staring at him as if he’d grown a second head. He dissolves into peels of jovial laughter, having to grab the back of the chair as he almost falls out of it. I continue to stare in disbelief as he attempts to pull himself together.

“He’s- he’s adopted, all of my boys are,” he chuckles, “It’s just funny that your words mean more than either of you thought, you know? That and your face of course was hilarious,” he barley finishes before falling into another bought of laughter.

I continue to stare off into space, thinking of the moments before Tommy and I squared off inside the bakery. Distantly I can remember Nikki demanding that Tommy apologize to me before she called his father. I groan in embarrassment that It’d taken me this long to make the connection.

_His Wings…_

The question burns the back of my throat. He’d brought it back to the bakery, and I mean, I practically just spilled my entire life story to him so maybe…

“Phill,” I call out softly to grab his attention, “um, I was just wondering, geez, I mean. At the bakery, I-,” I pause for a moment to gather my words, “I’ve never met a hybrid in person before, so I’m not too sure of all the “rules” when it comes to talking about these kinds of things but uh,” I look up at Phill, his previous cheerful attitude having almost completely disappeared from his face, but I press on, “You confirmed that it was you at the bakery, and I know you were the one that got between Tommy and me. But it was with, well you had wings.” I let the words sit in the air, echoing around the room before completely disappearing.

He doesn’t say anything, so I continue,

“I was just curious where they went because they were huge, and really pretty and well they kind of, never mind,” I finish rambling, clamping my mouth shut.

The silence grates on my nerves. I curse myself; I should have just kept my mouth shut, how typical of me to ruin everything. Phill let’s out a sigh and I scramble to apologize,

“Phillza I’m sorry I should have just-“

“Crumbs, it’s fine really,” he says with a small smile, standing from the chair, “You shared so much with me, I can at least share this with you,” He continues, removing the too big of jacket from his body.

Phil rolls his shoulders a bit before relaxing them, it’s probably the most relaxed I’d seen him since I’d met him. He takes a deep breath before releasing it, and suddenly the gray wings are folded up behind him. My mouth drops open in awe, they’re larger than I remember. They arch above his head about a foot or so, the tips barely brushing the floor. He unfolds them, stretching them one at a time as far as he can.

“I can’t stretch them out all the way inside, so I’ll show you when you can move better on your own,” He throws out like it’s the most normal thing ever.

I just nod my head, still captivated by the wings. I roll my shoulders a little, feeling the phantom weight from my dreams settle once more on my shoulders. As he stretches them towards the ceiling, I notice that his flight feathers are abnormally straight along the edges. Embarrassingly I’m comparing his wings to those of the chickens I’ve raised, (and the details I have burned into my memory from the woman’s own massive pair) and I don’t remember them ever being that flat.

Phill finishes stretching his wings, returning them to their folded position behind his back.

“Avian hybrids usually possess a little bit of magic they can use to contain their wings inside their body,” I physically grimace at the idea, “and as far as I know, not many avian hybrids exist, even when I traveled all over the realms and dimensions, I only ever met one or two others,” Phill says sadly.

“As for why I hide them, well,” he shuffles his feet, “My boys lived in this realm long before I did, and a few years ago-“

Whatever he is about to say is cut off by a loud vibration coming from his pocket. Phill digs in his pocket and pulls out a communicator like Nikkis.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Tommy’s awake. Tech and Wilbur are on their way back with Tommy and Tubbo.” Phill says with a relieved smile. There’s another buzz and Phills smile widens just a tad, “and Batthew. Tech says Nikkis going to stay with Puffy for the night.”

I sigh in relief, glad to know Nikkis alright and won’t be alone after what’s happened. Phill pockets his coms before directing his attention back to me,

“Listen, it won’t take them too long to get here, and the stories a long one, so how’s about I help you get downstairs to the kitchen so we can get some more food and the rest of this health potion in you, and then after the boys get here and we get a few things settled, I’ll finish telling you about my wings? I’ll even take you out to the barn to meet the horses, maybe tell you a story or two about my travels, deal?”

I can’t stop my childlike curiosity from bubbling to the surface, an excited “yes!” spilling from my mouth before I can even think. Phill just grins at me, grabbing his jacket before moving over to the bed to help me stand so we can shuffle out of the room.

The entire time we move, I fail to notice the now constant phantom weight that has found a permanent home between my shoulders.


End file.
